It may not be the most creative thing to name a restaurant after the street that it’s on. But when that street is 8th Street in the center of Holland, Michigan, it’s not just any street. This street is the beating heart of the town and so 8th Street Grille is a name that carries some clout, as well as a bunch of American food and local beers.

I started with a flight of said beers, because it was simply the right thing to do.Check out the London’s fastest alcohol delivery service. It didn’t disappoint, but let’s be real, you’re here for the food. And the food menu wasn’t nearly as robust as bar and grille type restaurants often are. Yet, there was plenty for an unvegan like me. I ordered up the Macatawa Burger, which was named for the other lake that Holland borders. It was topped with a fried egg, smoked mozzarella, Canadian bacon and pesto aioli. I have to give the 8th Street Grille for coming up with a burger combination that likely never existed before. I decided to go with the onion rings for my side and ordered medium rare.

The burger arrived ready to pop. Like, seriously, the yolk was a thing of beauty and 8th Street Grille had amazing gall to put the kaiser rolls on that egg knowing the risk it could pose to that egg. That risk paid off, however, as topless burger rarely looks as good as one fully topped. I popped that egg like a champ and dug in to find a deliciously unique blend of flavors. The smokiness of the mozzarella stood out strong, while the Canadian bacon added a punch of saltiness and the pesto flavor kicked the burger to another taste level. The egg did what fried eggs do best – keeping the burger juicy and complex. The beef was cooked just the way I like and the massive, towering onion rings had great batter on them.

8th Street Grille proved you don’t need a great name to dish out a great meal, and as long as you are creative with your dishes everything else is superfluous.

The space between fast food burgers and gourmet burgers is a crowded one. Over in Portland a spot called Killer Burger did so well in that space that they decided to set up shop in Scottsdale. Scottsdale is oh so different from Portland, but hell, I’ll take any new burger spot outside of a vegetarian patty specialist.

Plus, Killer Burger had a burger that seemed to be created for my kind of people. It was called the Meathead and is composed of two patties, bacon, cheddar, grilled onion and house sauce. The house sauce sounded disgusting (some sort of mix of mustard and mayo) and grilled onions are grilled onions, so I ordered without either. All burgers come with fries and hey, that’s pretty cool. And then there are games like Jenga at each table in case the burgers take more than the five minutes or so that it took for mine.

When my Meathead arrived, it looked just as it did in the menu picture. The cheddar was basically oozing out from between the meat and bun, and the bacon on top was heftier than one might expect. The fries were somewhere between fast food and steak fries, and seasoned to perfection. Upon biting in, the burger had a sense of familiarity and newness at the same time. It was as though Killer Burger had upgraded In-N-Out Burger in every way imaginable. The patties had mild caramelization to go with a perfect texture within. The cheddar was flavorful and a much-preferred cheese over American, while bacon simply makes everything better. Plus, don’t even get me started on the fries, which had been both fried and seasoned perfectly with a similar balance of texture to the burger; being crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

I hope with all sincerity that Killer Burger does well in Scottsdale. It provides a perfect middle ground that is often missing in the burger scene. It won’t be easy to compete with Shake Shack, but is a very worthy choice.

I have a hard time driving by burger places regularly without paying a visit. And yet, Lush Burger in Scottsdale evaded my belly for too long. This would have to be remedied and so I made my way there. I was amused by the naming of the burgers on the menu, ranging from Jay Does ‘Shrooms to Hello….?!?! Can Anyone Get Me A Bacon Cheeseburger Around Here?!? with amazingly lengthy descriptions.

I ordered The Yippee-I-Ayyy!, which is essentially Lush Burger’s take on the western-style burger with onion rings, cheddar, BBQ sauce and bacon. I opted for fries on the side and ordered medium-rare. Of course, I was disappointed to find that the burger also came with ingredients that were not listed on the menu. You know, like lettuce, tomato and a devastating pickle spear right next to the burger. I had to remove all of these immediately before getting my mouth around the burger. And when I did, I found the burger to be, well, pretty good.

I wish I could say it was more than pretty good, but frankly it was a burger that lived up to its expectations and didn’t really go anywhere beyond that. The fries were freaking delicious though, clearly making use of the chip on the shoulder that results in being second fiddle to a pretty good burger.

And, of course, it is difficult to get over the pickle, lettuce and tomato. So, you can go to Lush Burger and you probably won’t be disappointed, but you also shouldn’t expect to be overly impressed either. Unless you’re talking about the names and the descriptions.

Traveling for work can sometimes take you to big cities with tons of food. And sometimes it can take you to places like Idaho Falls, Idaho. It’s a place with a surprising amount of options considering the airport only has three gates, but, I mean, still. So on my first night there I went straight to a restaurant within a hotel, which is usually not a good plan, but I had read good things. It was called Bee’s Knees.

I took a look at the menu and immediately knew it was my kind of place. I kicked things off with Bacon Cheesy Fries. After all, I figured I needed potatoes in Idaho more than anything else. This was a wise choice, as the fries weren’t just topped with cheese, they were loaded with the stuff and then clearly spent some time in the oven to ensure it would all kinds of melty. The house-made bacon bits were also a nice touch and the cilantro ranch was easily the best sauce to dip in.

For my meal, I went with the Jalapeno and Cream Cheese Stuffed Burger. In addition to those stuffings, it was also topped with cheddar and brown sugared bacon. It came with a choice of a side, and lettuce, tomato, onion and a side pickle. By my waitress’s recommendation, I opted for the mac and cheese, opted out of all that other stuff and then attempted to order my burger medium rare. Unfortunately, I was told that Bee’s Knees doesn’t cook the burgers to order. This was disappointing to hear, but I figured it would still be good.

It arrived and I’m not sure I had ever seen such an attractive burger. It was loaded with cheese and bacon so much so that I couldn’t even see the meat in there. The mac and cheese looked pretty nice, too, with a pretty char on it. I dug into the burger and it was…well…tough. The meat was simply overcooked, and there wasn’t enough cream cheese stuffed inside to make up for that. And frankly it’s a shame, because everything else about the burger was fantastic. But, I mean, you gotta the core right.

That mac and cheese, however, kicked ass. It was creamy shells and cheese, and just what I needed to accompany a burger, especially one that fell short of my expectations.

So, maybe Bee’s Knees is not a burger place. They sure know how to make food look pretty, but only the sides really lived up to expectations.

Where I come from, microbreweries are known to have good food. But, as I have learned, many parts of the country (perhaps all except Oregon?) are much newer to the micro or craft brewery concept and have focused much more on the beer than the food. Arizona, though, while new to the union and pretty new to brewing seems to have struck the right chord. Perhaps it’s because there are so many damn people here from Michigan, but whatever the case I was eager to get myself a non-media meal at SanTan Brewing Company ( you can check out the media one here).

I snagged myself a pint of beer (Hazy Horse for those of you who care) and quickly moved on to ordering a meal. I went with the Chipotle Bacon Cheeseburger because it was topped with delicious-sounding foodstuffs like house-smoked chipotle bacon, pepper jack cheese, aged white cheddar, chile lime mayo and LTO. I ordered medium rare, without the LTO and with fries on the side.

It came out looking picture-perfect and as soon as I took a perfect picture I plopped that bun on top and went to work. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. The bacon was nicely crisped, the burger was cooked exactly as it should have been and the flavorings just worked beautifully with each other. And the decision to go with double cheese should be applauded.

While the burger exceeded expectations, perhaps the fries were the most surprising thing about the meal. SanTan was not willing to simply roll with ordinary fries, but sliced them thick and battered them with ale before deep-frying them. It gave them a nice golden-brown crisp and soft, supple interior.

SanTan Brewing Company has definitely embraced the idea that not all people go to a brewery for a beer and it would be hard to find that more exemplified than in the Chipotle Bacon Cheeseburger.

Scottsdale goes on forever. I mean, like, you drive north and north and north and you think you’re in Flagstaff but you’r still not even at the end of Scottsdale. Somewhere up there is Local Bistro, which recently was named one of the 25 Best Burgers in Phoenix. Thus, while the menu had some intriguing options, I knew the burger had to be mine.

It’s called the Bistro Burger and came topped with onions, cheddar, pickles and garlic aioli, but I wanted mine without the veggies. I ordered medium rare and got fries on the side.

It may not look like much from the picture, but upon my first bite I could understand how such a burger would be considered one of the 25 best in Phoenix. It was cooked to such medium rare perfection that you might have thought a robot did it. Presumably no robots were involved, but maybe…

On top of that the cheese was melty and aioli added a little punch of flavor and moisture. It was a simple burger, especially the way I ordered it, but it was perfectly executed down to the bun that played its role of conduit and texture to a T. I could find nothing to complain about, and yet the burger didn’t exactly scream creativity.

Yet, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how creative you are if you can’t execute, and Local Bistro had execution in spades. Oh, and the fries were pretty delicious as well.

Sometimes burgers build up a reputation. Whether by winning awards or word of mouth, it happens. This happened to Aioli Burger in both ways. Yeah, it won some burger battles, but also people told me about it and that doesn’t happen as much in Phoenix as it did in LA and Pittsburgh, so I figured it had to be real. Plus, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I got a taste of Aioli Burger at the Scottsdale Culinary Fest earlier this year. Basically, the hype was real.

So I arrived and got a look at the menu. The burger that called out to me the most was the California Burger and it’s not because I spent so much of my life in California, but because it was topped with avocado, a fried egg, pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli and pickled red onions that I had no need for. I ordered up a side of the Signature Loaded Fries, which were topped with Kiltlifter cheese sauce, avocado, chipotle aioli, bacon and again those goddamned red onions that nobody likes. I took a number and awaited my food, hoping it would be onion-free.

It was onion-free, so that was a good start. The burger was a beautiful sight to behold and I beheld it very quickly into my mouth. The flavors played very nicely with each other and the burger was well-seasoned and cooked nicely. While I had been expecting something a bit more gourmet (for literally no reason whatsoever aside from a strange hunch), I was perfectly happy to find that this burger fit into the realm of whatever comes after fast casual.

The fries were also pretty solid, although the way they were plated made it seem like the portion was small. It wasn’t small, but it also wasn’t very big. It was, however, quite tasty. The fries were plenty crispy and able to withstand the combination of cheese sauce and aioli, but the avocado seemed just randomly thrown on and with poor intention. Honestly, if you’re just going to throw two slices of avocado on a huge plate of fries, you better be more intentional about it.

All that said, Aioli Burger has the goods. It may not be blazing an exciting new trail in burgerdom, but it’s worth eating if you find yourself near the truck or brick and mortar locale.

Indian Fry Bread has a tragic, complicated history. Yet, it has also grown beyond that to shine a somewhat positive light on the Native Americans of the Southwest as the bread has made its way beyond the reservations. The Fry Bread Truck is proudly sling the bread around the Valley of the Sun with some interesting twists.

After much deliberation (and veggies in every option), I chose the Indian Fry Bread Burger. It was essentially that delicious fried dough wrapped around two cheeseburger patties with beans (a must for fry bread), lettuce and tomato. Let me start by saying that each of these components were delicious. The fry bread had a perfect amount of fluffiness inside to combine with the slightly crispy outside and a whole lot of oil retention. The burgers were plenty juicy and the beans did what they do. I also enjoyed both the red and green salsa options to toss on the burger.

But man, something was just off about this combination. I expected a heavy meal out of this fry bread burger, but I didn’t anticipate just how difficult it would be to get through it. I think it was simply too much savory without any balance of competing flavor profiles or lightness. I’m thinking guacamole or just straight avocado would have gotten the job done.

Sure, I would get it again, but I would probably also tweak the recipe in some way if I were running the truck to add more balance to the burger.

Kosher restaurants are a conundrum for me. I want to embrace them because of my Jewish heritage, but I also really want to mix dairy and meat, or throw in some bacon. But, Kosher restaurants have figured out a way to make the food palatable and I went to Kitchen18 in Scottsdale to find out just how palatable they could be.

It didn’t take much time for me to settle upon the Pastrami Burger.. Although I must say that the massive Chinese menu was intriguing (Jews and the Chinese have a long, rich history). The burger was topped with the aforementioned pastrami and “friend” onion. The fried (yes, friend was a typo) onion wasn’t like onion rings or anything, so I passed on them. I had a choice of two sides, and opted for Cajun curly fries and steak fries because that’s how I roll.

The burger was a thing of beauty. Just look at that burger up above. It was massive, it was sexy, and it was still somehow not topped with cheese or bacon. Interestingly, the burger had been seasoned with a number of ingredients, including lemon. This was only a bad thing when I found a seed, but otherwise the various flavors were fantastic. The pastrami, however, could have been a little better. It was kind of dry and kind of tough, but undoubtedly the best topping a Kosher restaurant could have produced for a burger. The fries were great companions to the burger, although I am always partial to curly fries and these delivered.

Kitchen18 definitely did what it had to do and likely produced one of the most beautiful burgers I have ever photographed. But it was also a $19 burger, which is kind of a crazy price to pay for a burger when you don’t keep Kosher. So, I’ll keep Kitchen18 in mind for next time I need to please the lord almighty, but until then I will continue to seek out places that will happily melt some cheese on top of my beef.

Everybody just looooves the Fox Restaurant Group in Phoenix. But can there ever be too many Fox restaurants? I headed to The Greene House in Scottsdale’s Kierland Commons in my continuing quest to find out. The Greene House is a modern American restaurant showcasing things like salads, sandwiches, fish and chicken. As in most similar situations, my eyes went right for the burger.

This wasn’t just any burger, but a Kobe Burger topped with aged cheddar, bacon, butter (fancy) lettuce, tomato (of the vine-ripened variety) and thousand island dressing. I continue to assert that Kobe Beef in a burger is waste of Kobe Beef, but since it was the only beef option I managed. I ordered without the lettuce and tomato, then went with medium rare. I also chose the mac and cheese as my side, and must say I was glad to have mac and cheese as a regular side option instead of just fries or a salad.

Yet, despite my joy about mac and and cheese, the results were…fine. I mean, i don’t know if any of the Fox restaurants know how to make bad food, but there was nothing special about either the burger or the mac and cheese. There was no lack of execution or anything, but just felt like a lack of inspiration. If I’m being fully honest, my stomach was asking me why I walked by Shake Shack on the way to The Greene House without just getting my burger there.